Raphë is a queer French Canadian performance, plastician artist & illustrator.
Raphë [ pronounced ra — fee ] was born in Montreal; raised in suburban social housing by his mother.
Raphë began his first costume designs for small theatre productions and for his own cabaret numbers, while working as a Drag Queen on the stage of the Drugstore : a late iconic Montreal cabaret. He studied Drama at Cégep de Saint Laurent, École supérieure de Théâtre & workshops, as well as radio and tv hosting at Promédia; while refining his makeup techniques working as a MUA for M·A·C Cosmetics.
Raphë leaves Montreal to study traditional martial arts in China with Shaolin monks and a Taoist master, Master Wu (2013-14). His journey will continue for several years taking different turns; inspired by an interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he will begin studying Tibetan Buddhism in India & will travel over 3,000 kilometers on the Camino de Santiago through France & Spain. Working on the festival circuit in Australia, he came into contact with other queer cabaret performers who rekindled his flame for underground performance.
In his practice, Raphë combines the creation of artisanal structural costumes, performance art & martial movement in in situ performances, on stage & in photo + video. The artist also works with illustration as a tool to represent his queer imagination.
Raphë’s work has been presented in Canada and Australia, disseminated mainly in sub-cultural spaces; sometimes presented in galleries & theatre venues. Recent performance highlights include performance at whatthepop! (CAN) 2020 art event, Horschamps Co-op in Austin (CAN) 2020, HONCHO DISKO Melbourne (AUS) 2019 & group performance with artist Carlos Maria Romero at MAI Montréal Arts Interculturels (CAN) 2019.
Raphë is currently working on queer faces, illustrating a series of portraits of queer people from Montreal, as well as on USALU; un sens à l’unique, a trash-glam fiction short film merging the worlds of Liana Paré & Raphë.
Selected projects
2021
on going — “queer faces,” illustration series, montréal (canada)
on going — “USALU; un sens à l’unique,” short film, montréal (canada)
2020
“sommë,” performance, whatthepop!, riverside, st-henri (canada)
“forët,” performance, horschamps co-op, austin (canada)
“mask4mask,” performance, lafontaine park, montreal (canada)
“tiger quebz,” video, mockumentary, art collective le réacteur, montréal (canada)
“mösa,” performance, public space, plateau-east, montreal (canada)
“not the measurement unit,” object, private house, montreal (canada)
“dusty_bunny,” object, kunstmatrix whatthepop! expo digital gallery (online)
“crane,” performance, public space, plateau-east, montreal (canada)
“pink-plague,” performance, public space, plateau-east, montreal (canada)
2019
“banana phone,” performance, honcho disko, melbourne (australia)
“muy serio,” group performance, carlos maria romero, mai, montreal (canada)
“wrapped,” performance, private house, montreal (canada)
“pivoine,” performance, jack layton park, hudson (canada)
“i.b.e.w.,” performance, construction sites, montreal (canada)
“pitt-pitt unit,” object, lgbtq2+ bird condominium, montreal (canada)
2018
“loneboy,” puppet performance, concrete cabaret, the burdock, toronto (canada)
2016
“javel,” performance, rundle mall, adelaide (australia)
“bubbles for ca$h,” performance, rundle mall, adelaide (australia)
“for hire,” performance, rundle mall, adelaide (australia)
“étoffe,” performance, public space agsa, adelaide (australia)
“fresh air,” mural, haleiwa (hawai’i)
2015
“pabsmaster & margarita,” group performance, art matters festival, montreal (canada)
“another condom jar,” object, art collective le réacteur, montreal (canada)
“noire,” theatre, fro festival/banq, montreal (canada)
“24 photographs,” exhibit w/ liana theghost & petra höller, le réacteur, montreal (canada)
“beta-beta,” short film, art collective le réacteur, montreal (canada)
“oraison,” short film, art collective le réacteur, montreal (canada)
“pub(lick),” workshop & exhibit, art collective le réacteur, montreal (canada)
2013
“prend ma sauce,” performance, art contexte festival, montreal (canada)
“pain-ted,” performance, jasper-julia lim, ontario-loft, montreal (canada)
“bar à salade,” theatre, klap4 collective, studio 211, montreal (canada)
“bella bestia,” voice, festival fringe, dram. art conservatory, montreal (canada)
“projet randa,” short webserie, co-creator, montreal (canada)
“limonade,” performance, art contexte festival, montreal (canada)
Selected radio/cinema/theater appearances
“the voyeur,” film, galerie artist, 2019
“world scariest haunting,” tv, the ghost priest, woodcut media uk, 2018
“allez-dites-moi tout,” radio, cohost, cibl 101,5 fm montreal, 1 season, 2016
“les francofolies,” radio commercial, voice, cibl 101,5 fm, 2016
“combat de rue,” short film, angry gambler, fusion film, 2016
“boycott vj set,” model, igloofest, montreal (canada), 2016
“oranges pressées,” weekly cultural columnist , cibl 101,5 fm montreal, 2012-13
“fin de siècle,” short film, sebastien, fantasia festival & regard court-métrage, 2012
“chimère en 13 tableaux,” les défenestrés collective, espace lacenne, montreal (canada), 2012
“enceint,” barbie, theatre kata, salle d’auteuil du gesù, montreal (canada), 2011
“la nuit de valognes,” studio-theatre georges-groulx, montreal (canada), 2011
“roxy,” tv, childhood friend, avanti ciné-vidéo, 2009
“terra nostra,” theatre, salle andré-pagé ent-nts, dir. philipe boutin, acte 1, 2009
“la grande fessée,” theatre, salle andré-pagé ent-nts, dir. philipe boutin, acte 1, 2009
“la déprime,” theatre, la grangerit sumemr theatre, dir. philipe boutin, acte 1, 2008
“macbeth,” old st-vincent theatre , dir. brigitte soucy, acte 1, 2009
“virginie,” tv, recurring student, radio-canada, 2007-10
Publications
“les sentinelles,” interview, culture cible / cactus production sonore, 26:46 mins, 2020
“hard work,” photo documentation, ameena rojee, brown owl press, uk, pages 70-72, 2016
“porteur d’espoir w/ diane gagnon,” interview, 96,9 fm lévis, 120:00 mins, 2016
“droit de cité,” art jury, cibl 101,5 fm montreal, 2 episodes, 2014
Selected education
“chinese martial arts studies ,” qufu kung fu school, qufu (china) 2013-14
– studies under daoist ”old” master wu & 24th generation shaolin master shi yang shu
“pranayama & sanjeevani kriya,” w/ swami sachidanand, bhagsu nag (india), 2014
“radio and television hosting ,” certificate, promedia school, montreal (canada), 2012
– recipient of duffaut prize for best team spirit
“textes & pratiques de jeu,” école supérieure de theatre, montreal (canada), 2011
“dramatic arts ,” cegep degree, st. lawrence cegep, montreal (canada), 2009-11
kenpo karate assistant-professor, lrc, vimont (canada), 2000-08
Memberships
union des artistes (uda)
regroupement des arts interdisciplinaires du québec (raiq)
dare-dare
* Photo i Jeanne Desrochers (CAN)
** Photo ii Ameena Rojee (UK)